Ex-Ukrainian politician shot dead while dropping daughter at Madrid school
A former Ukrainian politician has been shot dead in what appears to be a professional hit job at the entrance of an exclusive school in Madrid.
Andriy Portnov, a pro-Russian who worked as a close aide to the former president, was dropping off his daughters on Wednesday morning when motorcycle assassins shot him five times.
The shooting took place at the American School of Madrid on the school run while other parents were also dropping off their children.
Portnov had previously worked closely with President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in the 2014 Euromaidan revolution.
He was placed on sanctions lists by the EU and the US. He was declared dead at the scene by emergency services.
The murderer is reported to have fled and police have launched a manhunt.
The 51-year-old Portnov had arrived in a Mercedes at 9.15am at the school in the wealthy Pozuelo de Alarcón suburb of Madrid to drop off his two children.
He was shot five times in the head and body by his assailant while still in his car, according to witness reports.
The Spanish police's homicide group and forensic officers have taken charge of the investigation.
Their initial hypothesis for a motive points to a settling of scores, probably related to politics or unpaid debts.
Between 2010 and 2014 Portnov, who was a trained lawyer, served Yanukovych as an advisor and headed up the presidential legal department.
Portnov was a controversial figure, blacklisted by the European Union for misuse of state funds and human rights violations in Ukraine.
During the pro-Western Euromaidan protests of 2013 and 2014 – which led to the overthrow of Yanukovych – Portnov helped bring in so-called 'dictatorship laws' to restrict freedom of expression and the right to assembly.
Portnov left Ukraine immediately after the Euromaidan revolution. He initially lived in Russia before settling in Vienna, where he practised law until 2019 and then returned to Ukraine.
Several criminal cases had been filed against him in his home country, including an accusation of treason over allegedly aiding Putin's annexation of Crimea.
The EU imposed sanctions against Portnov in 2014, but these were lifted a year later when he won a case at the EU's General Court. It recognised that the imposition of sanctions based solely on co-operation with the Yanukovych government was not fair.
In 2021 the US Treasury placed Portnov under sanctions for corruption. It said Portnov was 'widely known as a court fixer', using corrupt means and his influence to secure desired rulings from Ukraine's courts.
'As of 2019, Portnov took steps to control the Ukrainian judiciary, influence associated legislation, sought to place loyal officials in senior judiciary positions, and purchase court decisions,' the Treasury said in a statement.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there have been several crimes involving high-profile Russian and Ukrainians in Spain, which has significant expatriate populations from both countries.
In November and December 2022, six letter bombs were sent to high profile targets around Spain, including to Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, a European Union satellite company and the US Embassy.
A 76-year-old retired Spanish civil servant whose social media searches suggested sympathy for Russia was jailed for the offences.
In April 2022, a Russian businessman tied to Russia's gas company Novatek was found dead in an apparent suicide together with his wife and daughter who had suffered stab wounds.
A Russian pilot who defected to Ukraine with his helicopter was found dead in February 2024 from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking garage of his apartment block near Alicante.
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